From the “Spirit of St. Louis” to coal miners 350 feet underground, the digitally preserved and magnificently displayed works of Joseph W. Hardin are among the greatest photographs ever taken. Hardin‘s ten-foot panoramic film negatives, unique in photography and created using cameras of his own invention, recorded Oklahoma‘s oilfields and boomtowns in their glory days. His glass negatives captured the weathered faces of dustbowl farmers and their families on drought-stricken homesteads. The camera was his canvas, and his artistry our inheritance.

Unseen for decades, these exquisite photographs are now presented using both print and digital technologies, immersing the viewer in the sights and sounds of a uniquely Oklahoman experience.

Visit the “Home of the Hardin Photo Collection” and experience the joys, tribulations and triumphs of early Oklahoma through the lens of an American legend, Joseph W. Hardin.